Chapter 680: Breaking Embargo
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
Just as Jiang Chen expected, on the third day after news of Dragon Calvary X1 graphene chip was leaked, Hua sent representatives there. Led by an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives of Loongson arrived at Coro Island.
Jiang Chen met with the two representatives. He was surprised to see a familiar face.
“Long time no see, Mr. Jiang.” Liu Haotian shook Jiang Chen’s hand with a smile.
“Indeed, long time no see. The last time you were part of the concierge. Now, you’ve been promoted to a diplomat?” After letting his hand go, Jiang Chen looked over at the stranger.
“This is Hu Weiwen, the CEO of Loongson.” Liu Haotian courteously introduced the person behind him.
The middle-aged man at least twenty years older than Jiang Chen extended his hand first to express his sincerity.
“I’m Wu Weiwen. I’ve long heard Mr. Jiang’s name. Mr. Jiang is indeed as impressive as the rumors say.”
“You’re flattering me.” Jiang Chen smiled and welcomed the two men onto the vehicle.
Liu Haotian looked at the vehicle and appeared somewhat shocked as he couldn’t recognize the brand of the car. Jiang Chen seemed to have read his confusion. After the Celestial Trade Bodyguard opened the car door, he began to explain.
“Luer S100, a pure electric vehicle with a solid-state lithium-air battery with a range of 500 km. Only 1000 units are available worldwide.”
Liu Haotian recalled the name Luer – it seemed to be an emerging European car company with a focus on purely electric vehicles. At the Ber auto show, it received 100 million US dollars in financing and secured battery orders from Future Heavy Industries. It performed slightly better compared to Tesla and was gunning for the top dog position in the new energy field.
At present, Future Group invested 740 million US dollar on Coro Island to fully implement new energy vehicles. Three European car companies, such as Luer, had the privilege of sharing this policy, so it wasn’t uncommon to see this brand of vehicle on Coro Island.
“A range of 500 km? That’s fantastic,” Liu Haotian said enviously.
It wasn’t hard to tell he was a car fanatic.
“Do you want one? I can gift you one.” Jiang Chen laughed.
“I’m okay. I’m afraid of accepting gifts.” Liu Haotian quickly dismissed the idea.
Jiang Chen didn’t mention it further.
Liu Haotian wasn’t much older than him. To be able to act reserved at his age proved that either he didn’t have a compet.i.tive mindset or he desired much greater things.
Outside Future Building, Wu Weiwen envied the four-hundred-meter tall building with astonishment. If it was in w.a.n.ghai or Shangjing, it wouldn’t be considered tall at all, but it had a different meaning standing on the Pacific Ring of Fire.
This area was frequently affected by earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis. Building even a one-meter tall building here wasn’t easier than building two meters in w.a.n.ghai.
“Mr. Wu is intrigued by this building?”
“The building’s material must be impressive.” Although Wu Weiwen didn’t work in this field, he had a Ph.D. with a background in this area.
“If you’re interested, feel free to visit anytime.” Jiang Chen led the two men into the conference room.
The conference room was located on the middle floor of the building.
The three of them sat around the table as Wu Weiwen got straight to the point.
“I heard you have made significant progress in ultra-chip research. I wonder if this rumor is true?”
“Of course,” said Jiang Chen calmly. “In the graphene field, we’re leading the world.”
Wu Weiwen and Liu Haotian looked at each other and read the glee in each other’s eyes.
Wu Weiwen contained his joy and looked sternly at Jiang Chen.
“The purpose of the trip was hopefully to establish a partners.h.i.+p with you in the field of graphene chips.”
“I, of course, welcome a partners.h.i.+p, but… why is Loongson here?” Jiang Chen asked.
Jiang Chen thought Hua would be interested in the Dragon Calvary X1 chip and would provide Jiang Chen with a supply contract, but the situation was a bit different now that Loongson was there.
“We hope to obtain the graphene chip and licensing rights to Dragon Calvary X1 architecture,” Wu Weiwen answered.
After UA embargoed its ultra-chip from Hua, developing a computer chip was put on the agenda. However, due to technical challenges, as well as compatibility difficulties and many other issues, Han-made chips still relied on ARM architecture.
In terms of performance, although some domestic media exaggeratedly hyped Loongson as the best in the world, there was no market to prove it. However, the lack of market reaction proved that Loongson’s performance wasn’t as attractive as advertised. In actuality, whether it was Feiteng or Loongson, just from the chip manufacturing process, they were two generations behind Intel and other well-known international companies.
Wu Weiwen’s visit this time was to obtain the authorization of graphene chips related to patents and he was also interested in the instruction set of Dragon Cavalry X1. The news revealed “Dragon X1’s” mainstream chip architecture was completely different from X86, ARM, and MIPS.
“There are no issues with granting you licensing for the graphene chip technology, but the instruction set is a bit troublesome.” Jiang Chen’s finger tapped the table and he looked at Wu Weiwen’s nervous face. “After all, the Dragon Calvary X1 chip is still in the lab stage and hasn’t entered the patent registration process yet. This includes the lix architecture designed by Future Technology.”
“What’s the performance of the lix architecture?” Wu Weiwen immediately asked.
“I am personally very pleased,” said Jiang Chen with a smile. “In terms of the complexity of the instruction set, we may be leaner than ARM architecture, but we’re in no way inferior to the performance of Intel’s X86 architecture.”
He was still being conservative with that statement. In the apocalypse, lix architecture was the most widely used for graphene chips. It was one of the earliest forms of architecture, derived from the foundation framework. Jiang Chen intended to register 1000 patents; the current patent application doc.u.ments were still being prepared.
“What’s the licensing price?”
“Please don’t rush, Mr. Wu Weiwen.” Jiang Chen sighed. “We can’t authorize a technology without being granted a patent.”
Wu Weiwen’s expression looked somewhat awkward as he realized he was being abrupt. However, the reason he was behaving so unsympathetically was simply because this was too important for Hua!
“I suggest you purchase the Dragon Calvary X1. The ultra-chip’s performance is far superior compared to Intel’s Xeon Phi. If you order now, once we complete the registration process, you’ll receive the first s.h.i.+pment.”
With a pause, Jiang Chen looked at Liu Haotian and said mockingly,
“I can promise that this chip will help you dominate the supercomputer computation chart.”
This was directed to the people behind Liu Haotian.
“The development of domestically produced chips is a guideline from the superiors. The ultra-chip embargo was a wake-up call for us and we had to have our own chip production capabilities.” Liu Haotian shook his head. “Although your proposal is very attractive, we still favor Loongson and hope to gain the chip production technology.”
Jiang Chen looked at Liu Haotian and Wu Weiwen speechlessly.
[Even if I give you the instruction set, you might not be able to beat Intel! From research and development to self-production, how long do you plan on using silicon chips? We’re a family! Even if I embargo everyone else, I won’t embargo you!]
“How about this – let’s sign the Dragon Cavalry X1 Chip Supply Contract for 2 years. Next month, after we complete the patent registration for the lix architecture, let’s talk about the lix architecture license. Developing this technology isn’t a one-day event. You can first use our product then once you develop your own chip, we can discuss ending the contract?”
Liu Haotian and Wu Weiwen exchanged looks before giving Jiang Chen a nod.
“This proposal isn’t bad. I’ll have to seek approval from my superior.”
“Let’s end our negotiation here today. I look forward to hearing good news,” Jiang Chen stood up and said with a grin.
[Once Hua’s super-computer dominates the Top 500 chart and kicks other countries out of the Top 10, I don’t think you’ll have the guts to terminate the contract!]
Dragon Calvary X1’s purpose was to export since Xin wasn’t consuming ultra-chips.
Why?
Because their technology was too inferior.
Future Group’s servers used quantum computers and had long abandoned outdated supercomputers.